Clobbered By a Coconut

Christine wants to prove to her kids that they can accomplish their dreams. 

"I'm Christine Shields. I'm 39 years old. I'm a wife and mother of two. I teach English to students of other languages, at the kindergarten level."

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"Being a teacher for students with special needs will help me immensely out here, because every morning, I need to assess where my students are, and adjust my lesson plans accordingly, and have lots of patience. I think that will translate well to the game, and advance me."

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"Growing up, my parents and my siblings, we went camping very often, for weeks at a time. My father always felt we need to be prepared kid. He taught us how to live off the land and use it to our advantage."

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"My motivation for playing Survivor is because I can, and I want to, but it will also show my kids that you put your mind to something, you can do it."

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"I know I'll win, because it's in my crosshairs, and my husband will tell you, once I get something in my head, that's it. There are a few factors about myself that could possibly make me stumble. One would be my stubbornness. Two would be, I have a tendency for thing to want to go my way. My husband says, 'My way or the highway.' I don't know what he's talking about. I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut when I see something I disapprove of."

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"I hear college is very expensive, so winning the million dollars for us would be stellar. I want to put the money away for my kids' college. If that's what they wanna do. My husband and I never agree on cars, ever, but we agree on 1, and that's the Challenger. I'd like that."

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"I know Redemption Island is a factor this season. I don't like it that much because we've lost some of the control over who gets to go permanently. We've lost control and I don't like being out of control."

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"The returning All Stars could be a help and a hindrance. They know the game, so that's one up on the rest of us. But also, since they do know the game, it could help us, we could use them, until we no longer need them, and we get rid of them. That's my plan."

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"I'm sure people have a preconceived notion of how I should be, being a mom of two in the suburbs, being a teacher - and I drive a minivan. But once you get to know me, you'll realize I'm not, I'm a little more out there. I'm a little more daring, and crazy, and unpredictable, than a minivan would portray."

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"I'm very excited to start the game. I'm ready, I'm willing, and I'm able, so I'd like to get started as soon as possible. I'm ready. I want to get into it. Baptism by fire. Let's go."

 

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I'm Here To Win

Coach explains how he plans on winning the game in his third season on Survivor

"I am here to win. I tell you, the first time I played, I was stupid. Second time I played, I was too soft, spread myself too thin. I was trying to play both sides of the fence. It's been shown in Survivor that you make alliances early, you make 'em hard, you make 'em fast, and you try to stay true to alliances. I don't think I've ever really played this game. I had two agendas. My first agenda in Tocantins, season 18, my agenda was to be the biggest, baddest character the game had seen to date. I would incorporate my own philosophy, I would try to change the game, I would take the strongest to the end. I had this whole approach to that first game, but it wasn't necessarily to win. The second time I could only think about finding redemption in the eyes of the public. I didn't approach it to win. This third time to play on Redemption Island is to have that great adventure, but it's also to win. I've reflected, and I've thought about who Coach is on the inside, and how I can continue to be a better person, because as a coach, coaching other people, that's what I want to try to do. I want to try to motivate. I want to inspire people. The hardest thing for me, and I think the dragon that lurks around the game for Coach, is actually the dragon from within. It's not the dragons out there I'm trying to eliminate. It's trying to control and harness my sometimes sense of self-righteousness and judgment on the other contestants. As a coach and an adventures, I say to myself, this is the greatest adventure you can go through, so therefore, if I can get the other contestants to see how to empower themselves, how they can forge their character in real life, long after the game of Survivor, then I've done my job. That's how I've approached it. When two girls sit on the beach and do nothing, it drives me crazy. When this guy sits there and double deals with everybody, it drives me crazy. When people don't want to play with honor and integrity, it drives me crazy. I've got to realize everyone out here is on their own journey. I can't fit them into my journey."

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"I need to be able to relate to them in their own individual journeys. That's what you haven't seen from Coach in the pat and that's what you're going to see from Coach in the future."

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"I have a very sensitive side that sometimes comes out, and the philosophical side, but in real life, if I don't respect or relate to somebody, I just walk away. I don't need to deal with somebody that in my judgmental mind, I find beneath me. Part of my research for this game is to know some of my tribemates are going to be younger. Some of my tribemates are not going to have the experiences of myself or some of the other people that are out there. That's OK. I've gotta meet them where they're at. Am I reading all the young girls' magazines? Yes. Am I studying pop culture? Absolutely. Can I tell you which shoes out there have red soles and which ones are gonna match the best Jimmy Choo with the Channel bag? Absolutely, man. I'm gonna bring the swag in this game. I'm gonna relate to those younger girls I found a hard time relating to, because I've got to. It reminds me of a good quote I'm going to build my game around. Edmund Burke said, 'The arrogance of age needs to submit the wisdom of youth.' Meaning when we get old in our age and get stuck in our ways thinking we're always right, we've gotta open up our eyes, because the world is always changing, so we've gotta adapt in order to keep up and in order to succeed. That's my motto. That arrogance we get into, having those different experiences. I've played this game twice, I've learned a lot from it, I haven't been successful. This time, I want to open my eyes and really see what these young people have to offer. It may be different than what I think they should be offering, but that's OK."

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"Playing against Ozzy is both an honor and a little bit of a threat, but most of all, a great challenge. He's a great competitor, I think his social game, he's a nice guy, so I think his social game in the beginning is going to be tough to beat. He'll ingrain himself in the tribe, then go and catch a bunch of fish and run up trees and cut down coconut. I think as it gets to the merge and the merge happens, he's going to be much more of a non-threat, so to speak, unless he wins immunities. I don't think he has proved he has that social game. I think there's a few players out there who have less of game than the Dragonslayer. Not many, but a few. Erik Reichenbach, Ozzy. There's a few, not many. Those are the guys I think after the merge it will be like taking candy from a baby."

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"My excitement level is through the roof. I really was not expecting this opportunity to come my way at the time it came. For me to be out here again is the thrill of a lifetime. I think it's heightened because I know what to expect. I'm more ready than ever before. I think I have a shot at winning this. I'm over the top ready to play."

 

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I Love This Game

Ozzy is excited to be back on Survivor and shares his new strategy for winning.

"I've been looking forward to playing Survivor more than you know. More than anyone could ever imagine. Third time's a charm."

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"In Fans Vs. Favorites, I approached the game a little naive, almost on purpose. I wanted to just go out and have a good time and have fun and enjoy the experience again. I didn't think I was going to be able to win, and I think I doomed myself on that assumption. Coming back to this game, to Redemption Island, where even in this game, there could be a second chance, possibly, I've gotta play more savvy. I've just gotta have a more cutthroat manner to my ability. I have to make relationships work for me. I have to stay on top of it the whole time."

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"The last time I was on Survivor I didn't play as smart as I should have. I made one stupid mistake, one giant mistake, not playing the hidden immunity idol I'd found. That was my downfall. I trusted my alliance a little too much. I should have known they were gonna vote me out if they had the chance."

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"I think my reputation in Survivor is pretty simple. I've been the guy that's able to climb coconut trees and able to go out and hunt fish and provide people with sustenance. I've also been strong in challenges - not all challenges, but in most challenges, I've been pretty good. I think people know I'm maybe not such a good strategic player. I can use that to my advantage."

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"I absolutely come into this game with a target on my back, but I'm also an asset. There's a paradox in myself that's going on that I've really gotta find a way to diminish the target and boost myself as an asset. Especially after last season with Rob winning. He was a returning player and made it all the way to the end and basically dominated the game. That makes it even more difficult for me to make it to the end. But, at the same time, the people on the tribe that got rid of Russell in the very beginning, they lost, they had absolutely no chance of winning the game. I think people are gonna be a little bit wary of me, but at the same time, they're gonna need my help, need my support, to get themselves further. I'm comfortable with that. I'm comfortable with taking the stance of, 'I'm ready to go to Redemption Island whenever you guys want me to. Let me help you get further in the game, and get myself further in the game. When it comes to that time, vote me out. I'm here to play, and I'm here to play for as long as possible. If that's two weeks, fine. If it's a month, fine. I'm ready to do whatever it takes.'"

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"I'm not the only returning Survivor. Coach is here. Coach is a character. I really believe he respects this game and respects what Survivor's all about. If I can get him into an alliance and get him into an alliance that's not in the faces of everybody watching, I'm going to try to do that. I've gotta be really sly, be really slick. I don't really want other people knowing I'm making an alliance with him. That would be the worst thing I could do. But I need him on my side. It would be in my best interest if Coach was on my side. I hope he will take me up on the offer."

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"I just love the game. I love the game. I love the game. I want this to be my last time playing. I want to win the million dollars, and I want to pass the torch to someone else. I want to go out with a bang. I want to make this an amazing season. I want to play my heart out, and do whatever it takes to get to the end."

 

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Finally Made It

Rick is happy to be on Survivor after applying fourteen times

"I'm Rick. I'm 51 years old. I own my own ranch in Utah. Cattle ranch. Applied for Survivor 14 times. Finally, FINALLY, after Survivor 8, all the way to here. Finally made it. Here. Look. (tugs at buff) Buff. We're on it."

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"The physical part is gonna be tough, no doubt about it."

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"But the social game is gonna be my very toughest part. I like to trust people, have them trust me. In Survivor you can't do that. You have to do it to a part.  You can't stick it in 'em the whole way and try to get their votes at the end. Ask Sash. Ask Russell. They made it to the end but they'd broke it into everybody on the way up there and they didn't get any votes. I want to win. I didn't leave my family to come all the way up here to lay on the beach to eat rice and fish heads. I wanna win the million bucks. I want to go the end and do whatever I gotta do to get there and actually win."

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"Can you imagine being one of 23 people in the world to say you've actually played the game of Survivor and won. 39 days. You can go camping for 7, 8, 10 days. It's not that tough. Can you imagine 39 days out here? Your mouth's gonna have that scum in it form not brushing your teeth. Your butt's gonna itch, your hair's gonna be smashed to your head, you're gonna be miserable. But you just reach inside yourself and get through it and do it."

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"I'm hoping staying by myself all the time - it's a game with people, but you're by yourself. Don't get nobody wrong. When you're out here, you're gonna be thinking the whole time, 'This guy's gonna stick one in me,' 'She's gonna stick one in me.' You're basically kind of by yourself. You're gonna find one or two people you can try to trust, but if you trust 'em completely, you're gonna go home, I believe. I think that's gonna help me. It's in here. (points to here) In here a lot (points at head) but there ain't a lot in here for me. It's in here (points at heart). You've gotta have a lot of heart in it. Stay focused on what you gotta do. I'm gonna try to talk to everybody every day. Not just hi, how are you, but find out who they are, where they're from, who they like on the tribe, who pisses 'em off. Just kind of work it that way. Do 130% around camp, help everybody, do your best in challenges, like there ain't no tomorrow. Hopefully there is a tomorrow."

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"We'll have to see what kind of personalities folks got. Might be like some Holsteins and some Jerseys and some sheep. They might all go a different way. Hopefully I can manipulate 'em, to get what I need to get done. You've gotta do it with finesse, if you want to get a vote. People are like cattle, in that they want their own space. Once you figure out how close you can walk to 'em without 'em jumping back, you'll be alright. Or, jump at 'em and get 'em to jump back."

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"I'm excited at Redemption Island because you get a do-over. When you get there you can dig in and - that's a wake-up call. That's a big hand coming out of the sky and slapping you in the head and saying, 'Come on sport. Get some game. This isn't halfway to home, this is halfway to get back up. Now get back up.' That's what I'm looking forward to. If you're there, you better dig it, give it all you got, because there is no tomorrow after that."

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"This is just like any kind of competition, I think. Whether it's anything. You train. If you didn't run, if you didn't lift weights, if you didn't learn how to build a fire, if you didn't learn how to build some kind of structure to sleep in, you might as well spit in the wind."

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"I got a little routine. I'd leave my house and down to my feed yards, about three-quarters of a mile. I'd run down every morning. I didn't care if the snow was that deep, if it was 20 degrees, whatever. I'd run down, feed 60, 70 bales, come back, 10 miles on my bike. Every time I'd come back, I know it's corny, but all I'd hear in my head was Jeff Probst going, 'Survivors ready...go.' Take off running, and get after it. Oh yeah. It's gonna be good."

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"I'm just so thankful to get the opportunity to do this."

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"This is gonna be a life-changing experience. I hope it's not when I get home that my wife's gone and the cows are gone. (laughs) I hope it's good." 

 

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Edna's plan is to gather information rather than give information to her tribemates

"I'm Edna, and I'm an anesthesiologist and entrepreneur. I live in LA but my hometown is Denver, Colorado."

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"I think my day job helps me with Survivor, because in the operating room, in the hospital actually, you have to approach taking care of a patient as a team player. You have a patient you're working on, that's the highest priority. Then you have surgeons, and nurses, and family members, and you have to orchestrate this machine to get the care provided for that individual. I think that helps. Sometimes you have to step up and take a leadership role."

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"I don't want my teammates to know I'm a doctor because I think there's an impression doctors make a lot of money. I'm here for the million dollars to fund my startup company."

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"My startup company is a numbing cream that numbers the bikini area before waxing. It's called Berries and Cream (?)"

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"The men's version is called Numb Nuts, a Manscaper's Numbing Cream."

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"I may not be much of an outdoors person, but I am from Colorado, this is not my first time camping. I have gone on medical missions before where conditions are actually worse than this. So this is a little bit of a vacation."

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"My approach will be to try to keep a poker face and keep my mouth zipped. Only offer opinion when people are asking me. Often people will volunteer information, and that will sort of be my strategy."

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"The reason why I can win this game is I have the endurance, I have and I easily gain the trust of people, and am a team player."

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"I think I would lose because people would perceive me as a threat, and they would see that when we start to get to the merge, where people have to perform on an individual level, I think that would be threatening to my fellow tribemates."

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"I figure I wear a suit, the perception would be serious, they would take me more seriously. I'm here for my objective to win the million dollars. I'm not out here to go clubbing, so I'm not going to dress like I'm gonna go clubbing."

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"There are two players coming back into the game. I'm totally excited to see who they are, but at the same time, I'm very nervous, because it will obviously change the dynamics of the tribe and the way our tribe sees each other and the returning Survivor. I'd like it to be a woman, it would be really exciting to see a woman return to Survivor. At the same time, 2 out of 3 times, returning Survivors have won, and not new Survivors. So I'm gonna have to convey that message and convince my tribe to vote accordingly."

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"Redemption Island is kind of exciting, because even if you're voted off, you can return. The thing is with Survivor, you never know what to expect. There could be another twist with Redemption Island."

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"You tell yourself something over and over again, it could come true, so if you tell yourself, 'Gosh, I'm a loser, a loser, a loser,' you're gonna be a loser. I have to walk in there believing I'm going to be the winner of Survivor. You have to walk in there with confidence, and that's my strategy. My overlying theme for life."

 

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Love You or Hate You

Semhar admits that she either likes or dislikes people and is not afraid to let them know.

"My name is Semhar. I'm 24, and I live in Hollywood, California."

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"I recite spoken word in different venues across the country, and I've been doing that since I was 15."

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"I started writing poetry at 15. I didn't feel like I could trust anyone with my feelings, so I started writing them away. I was eventually encouraged  by friends to start sharing them with people."

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"Poetry is a good place to put your feelings, as is any art form. In this game, you have to kind of conserve your feelings, and not let them show. You have to wear a poker face. As long as I can keep the poems that are in my head going to encourage me and give me a place to put my feelings. I think it will help me cover up what a lot of people are dying to let out."

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"I am playing this game to win a million dollars. Point blank. (laughs)"

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"I think I can win because just like when I go on poetry slams or I go up on stage, people look at me and think, OK, what is this Hollywood girl going to contribute, or, oh, just another cute face who thinks she deserves to be in the spotlight. But they're also very surprised at the words that come out of my mouth. I think I'm a little bit of the underdog. I have a lot of things that people don't expect within me when they look at my outer appearance."

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"Something that might hold me back in this game is that I'm extremely honest. I'm going to try to work on that as best as I can. Everything is written all over my face. I'm just a real person. I'm not used to hiding how I feel from other people. If I don't like you, I don't realize I'm making the face I'm making, and other people see through me. So that's something I've gotta work on - getting a poker face on."

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"I think what I'm most afraid of is the physical sacrifice. I'm a girl. (laughs) You're gonna lose some weight, lose some hair, things like that. You're definitely gonna get hurt, scratches, bruises, things like that. I think I'm more afraid of the physical sacrifice, because I think that the  mental part of it I have on lock, for sure."

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"I'm terrified of Redemption Island, for sure. I'm already not much of a nature person, so the one thing that kind of got me over that was the fact I'll be with other people who know what they're doing. If I get sent to Redemption Island, I'm on my own. That's terrifying, for sure."

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"I'm hot or cold. I either love you or hate you. You're probably gonna know. There's no medium for me. There's no-inbetween. It's either I like you or I don't like you. If I don't like you I'm often gonna let you know."

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"My strategy is to be as mediocre as possible. Possibly to play off being a little ditsy so no one takes me seriously, no one sees me as a threat. I'm already a pretty silly girl so I'm just gonna let that shine, let that overtake, and try my hardest to not let my complete intellectual side come out, because then they'll see me as a threat and take me out. I'm just gonna go with that presence the way people judge me when I'm onstage, and I'm gonna ride with that. Take it as far as I can."

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"I am eager and anxious to get this game started. I'm anxious because the sooner we start, the sooner I win. Let's go."

 

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Not In My Best Interest

Brandon doesn't want to reveal that he is Russell Hantz's nephew to his tribe mates

"My name's Brandon Hantz. I'm 19 years old. I'm from Houston, Texas. I'm a father of one, and another on the way. Been married for 2 years. I'm a dangerous liquids tankerman."

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"I am Russell Hantz's nephew."

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"I will never reveal I am Russell Hantz's nephew. If it's revealed it's because I have two tattoos with my last name. Other than that there's pretty much no other way they'll know. I don't think it's gonna be in my best interest to do that. It would be a stupid move for me. Not the best way to start out the game. It's like being related to...Hitler. (laughs) Kind of."

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"Not to say he's a bad guy it's just, I'm not gonna be dumb. He just has a reputation to be a villain. I'm not gonna be a villain by no means. I just wanna come out here, have fun, and win a million dollars for my family."

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"I have a tattoo on my neck that says loco. That means crazy. So right off the bat, people are gonna start looking at my neck and thinking I'm really crazy. At one point in my life I really was crazy. It was a childish thing I did. I wanted to be looked at as some bad boy. I'm really not like that. I grew up a lot. I don't have to be that way. I have a family to take care of now, and that's who I wanna be known as."

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"I think my uncle Russell, he lacked in his social game, definitely, but he made up for it in other areas, being a very aggressive, strategic player. Me, I'm trying to come at it with a balance. I have an extremely sociable personality and that can be a downfall for me. I might have to balance it out a little bit. I might have to play aggressive or be a little strategic. I'm definitely not gonna play the way Russell played. That's not my personality, that's not who I am. But as far as I'm concerned, the people who win are the people who are popular. High school all over again. I sucked at high school. I tried to act like Russell. Bullying everybody, and with a chip on my shoulder. Nowadays it doesn't work. It's not gonna work on Survivor, ever. I don't think so." 

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"God's #1 for me, no matter what. Win or lose this game, I love Jesus Christ, and I am a Christian. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I don't care what it comes down to. This is not worth my salvation, and it'll never be worth my salvation."

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"The reason I'm here is for my family. Being 19, and the economy we live in today, having 2 kids, having to take care of your family, anybody's having a hard time right now. I just really need the money. My family really needs the money. This is an awesome opportunity and could change our lives forever. I really genuinely want to have my wife - she's stuck with me through a lot of crappy times - and I want my boy to grow up different than I grew up. We were the kids in school who didn't have the Playstations in the house. We were a little bit behind everybody. I want my son to enjoy life and not feel bad for not having...my dad worked hard all my life, to support his family. I just want to catch a break, bro. That's it."

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"I think Matt when I think of Redemption Island. I love the guy, he played an awesome game, but that place sucked for me. I cannot be secluded on an island by myself. I'm a people person, I want to be around people, I want to have fun, I want to talk. Redemption Island is talking to Mother Nature. I'm not a hippie."

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"I most definitely think those two All-Stars coming back are gonna have a target on their backs. #1, they're All-Stars. #2 everybody watched how Boston Rob completely manipulated his whole tribe. They were all zombies. Hopefully we have enough common sense on the tribe to see that before it happens."

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"I want to do what my uncle never did and that's win the million dollars, be the sole survivor. Talk smack all day, but when it comes down to it, it's a social game. If you're not social, you lose Survivor. You gotta be social and you gotta be strategic. Outwit, outplay, outlast. You gotta have all 3 of those things. 2 don't cut it. If you're not first, you're last. If I win second place, I lost. If I get second place, I lost. Second place is not first place. First place is first place. Only one person can walk out of here with a million dollars. I intend on doing that if I can. We'll see."

 

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Strongest Social Player

Elyse feels that she is the best social player, which will help her win the game

"I'm Elyse, I'm 27 years old, I live in fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada, and I work as a dance performer, managing a group of dancers performing in nightclubs."

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"Managing a group of dancers is a very interesting job. It's unique for sure. I liken it to my experience cheerleading in college. You deal with a lot of very egocentric people who are always on their own schedules and always have their own emergency. I tell them all the time that their urgency is not my emergency. They can be a little flaky, a little flighty, but they're so much fun, they're certainly beautiful, and they're very talented."

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"Go-go dancing in Vegas doesn't exactly serve as a great prerequisite (laughs) to being on Survivor as far as the survival aspect is concerned. I don't have a great flashy background in outdoorsman activities, or even being particularly outdoorsy. In fact, the only thing  I'm hedging my bet on working my advantage is I grew up on an Indian reservation - I'm Native American - so I'm hoping somehow, along the way, by osmosis (laughs), my knowledge of the land and Mother Earth will somehow kick in, because I don't have that knowledge right now."

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"I have a very unique background. I'm 4 equal parts Japanese, German, Native American, Hispanic. Each of my grandparents is from a different culture and each battled racism and adversity in their own way when they were young people as well. I identify most strongly with my Native American heritage, having grown up on a reservation, being a big part of cultural activities as a child. My ethnic background has become a very big way for me to I guess identify myself just generally. A lot of their people think of their family and say, 'Oh I'm Italian,' or, 'Oh, my family's Russian,' and it doesn't mean a whole lot to them. My background is a huge part of who I am because it gave my parents and my grandparents all the skills and aptitudes they had to be driven, and successful people which in turn made me into a driven, focused person."

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"I think it's fair to say that I come across definitely as a girly girl. I'm not the kind of person who is going to wow you on the first day on the beach and show you I'm actually this amazing Olympic swimmer athlete female. Definitely not who I am. At the same time, yeah, I love all the luxuries of life. I miss my condo on Las Vegas Boulevard, on the 37th floor, looking down on the rest of the world. But I'm not afraid to get dirty, I'm not afraid of a challenge. In fact, my family's reaction to me pursuing this endeavor was completely, '<sputter> You think you're going to go out and survive? You who can't go an hour without her cell phone or a half an hour without a diet coke or skinny vanilla latte?' I'm the kind of person who, when I want something, I want it. Tell me I can't, and then I really want it. So it just strengthened my resolve."

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"I don't feel at all like I'm in over my head. At first the idea kind of startled me. Do I really want to take myself out of my regular life, do I really want to see if I can take the makeup off, and wear my dirty clothes, and not have my own three-bedroom, three-bathroom condo (laughs), with all the luxuries of life. And I decided I absolutely want to find out who I am, underneath all of that, if for no other reason than to tell all those people, the naysayers in my life who went, '<sputter> You?" 'Yeah. Me. Don't ask for money when I win a million dollars.'  That's what I wanna say."

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"I know that I can win this. I think that has to do with my confidence in myself as a player in the challenges, because I'm athletic and always have been. I may not be the strongest player or the strongest woman on the team, physically, but I'm very agile and very quick and very good at a lot of the things the challenges require you to be good at. Delegating, being a part of a team, the logic and the puzzle aspect of it. On the other side, I'm confident I'm the strongest person here in social game. I'm not here to manipulate, I'm not here to backstab, I'm not here to induce drama or make people hate each other or turn against each other, but at the end of the day, because of my life experience and background, I'm so comfortable with myself, and so comfortable in getting to know other people, that I have a lot of faith in my ability to trust the right people. I know that's gonna be what gets me to the end, not backstabbing and not undercutting other people, but knowing the right ones to trust, because at some point I'll have to trust somebody."

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"I've thought about my strategy and what it will be from the getgo. Ultimately it's to be my own person, all the time. I'm in the game, all the time, to be true to myself and who I am, all the time. Quirky, clumsy, silly and laughing. That's kind of me all the time. That's who I'm going to be, from the minute we get started, to the very end of the game." 

 

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Ready For Challenges

With her background in the Lingerie Football League, Mikayla is confident that she will do well in challenges.

"My name's Mikayla. I'm 21. I now live in Tampa, Florida, originally from New Jersey. I bartend and also play in a professional woman's football league. "

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"The women's league I play in is the Lingerie Football League. It's a woman's competitive, full tackle, 30 by 50 arena. It's full tackle, You name it, we hit it just as hard as the guys in the big leagues."

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"I grew up playing sports. I played basketball, softball, and soccer. So this league right here was a godsend for me."

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"There's 20 girls in a team. We are known as the Lingerie Football League Ladies, or the Tampa Breeze Girls."

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"Being a bartender is really gonna help me in this game, I think, because you see people in every state of mind, whether they're drunk, they're sober, they're happy, they're sad, they have friends, they don't have friends. You have to deal with them. You have to make them happy, because if they're not happy, they're gonna leave. Their tips are gonna pay your bills. Just seeing people and having to be their friend and finding something in common and find something to communicate with them about is really gonna help me in this game."

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"Off the bat, I'm not gonna go full out in every challenge. I don't wanna be seen as a huge physical threat, as a female. I don't want to put a target on my head right to begin with. I'm probably gonna lay somewhat in the mix with them, but I think when it comes down to it and individual immunity comes into play, I'll be going balls to the wall with everything. There's gonna be no holding back. But to start with I'm gonna lay low in the challenges, physically."

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"I think I do have a little head start in some of these challenges. I think just from being on a field, you never know what's gonna happen. Something say, I drop something in a challenge, I've already thought of a way to pick it up fast, regain my balance, already get going. In a game you never know what's gonna happen, you're ready for 4 different things to happen. In this game I think I'll be ready for whatever comes at me."

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"In this game, I think I have a very good chance of winning. I do think I have some tendencies that I watched in this past season, somewhat of Boston Rob, to kinda relax with people, but behind the scenes, these wheels are just turning in my head. I'm thinking of every next move I'm gonna make, if I'm talking to somebody, I'm thinking of something else. I think I have a really good chance. As I said before, physically, mentally, I'm there for it. Socially is probably gonna be the hardest part, trying to keep everybody together, trying to keep everybody from starting new ties here and there. I've just gotta be on top of everybody, I think, and then I'll be good."

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"Winning Survivor does come with the million dollar check, which I would be thrilled to have. Moving down here was hard, having to keep a job to keep a roof over my head. When football came about, it was even hard to keep a job and keep what I have going. Going to school's been a really hard thing for me to keep up. First thing I'd do with it is finish college. I want to have a degree. It's always something to fall back on. I also want to help my family up north. My mom's worked hard, she's a single mom, and I think it's about time she gets to relax. Take care of my little sisters for a little while for her, and help out with the family big time."

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"We know there's going to be 2 people returning. Of course I didn't want any of them returning, but it's going to help out shelter-wise, because they've been here before, they know what works, doesn't work. I'm looking forward to that part. When it comes back to the social game, it's going to be a pain, because they know what worked for them last time and what didn't. They know how to twist. Look at Boston Rob last year. He knew exactly what to do. Having somebody like that who is smart and has everything set out like that, it's gonna be rough to work with."

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"Coming into this game, I do have a strategy. What I'm gonna do, I'm probably gonna team up with somebody of the opposite sex. A guy. I'm gonna have the guy kind of round up the boys. The guy and I are going to go one and two to the end together, we're gonna stick to our guns, we're each gonna drag in 2 or 3 people with us, have them be a little group, or think it's all girls or all guys. We're gonna feel it out. Have them team up on each other. We're gonna try to run the show here. If something's happened, we're gonna roll with the punches. After the merge, we'll try to stick together as a solid group, then just try to whittle down the other tribe, and take it from there."

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"Coming into this game, I am single. I'm most likely going to use my flirting to lure guys in and follow what ideas I have. I am kind of a tomboy, so getting me to flirt with somebody is gonna be a little pain, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm definitely gonna use the flirtatiousness to my advantage."

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"Going into this, I'm excited at this point. The nerves have passed. All the other stuff is out the window. I wanna get in the game. I can only think and strategize so much until I'm actually there. I'm making myself go crazy. I just wanna be in it, so I can get a clear picture of what I want to do, who I wanna bring in, who's my first little victim; stuff like that. I'm just ready to roll."

 

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Survivor Has Transformed Me

Preparing to be on Survivor has significantly impacted Dawn and her families' life.

"My name's Dawn. I live in South Jordan, Utah. I'm 40 years old. My husband Dave and I have 6 children; they're all adopted. They are ages 16 down to 7 years old."

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"You know, really, for the last year, I've prepared a lot, because I wanted to be on the show, and getting ready for auditioning and everything. So, 6 days a week, every morning, get up, and it's either swimming, or running, lifting weights. I've spent a lot of time - there'd be no way for me to train and prepare without them."

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"The game has honestly been a transformation for me, in my life. When I look at who I was 10 months ago, before I started preparing for the game, it's kind of emotional, but it's a different person. It really is. I think I was more of a people pleaser. I think I didn't make time for myself, that's the kick for a lot of people, but especially for moms. If you have 6 children, it's pretty easy to justify not doing yourself, just doing things that need to be done for other people. Once the game became an opportunity for me, I think it gave me validation to believe I was important enough to do something big. And I believed it. I believed it and acted on it, and every day, 6 days a week, for 10 months, I got up and worked out, and my kids were there with me, and they were part of it, and they have seen the changes in me. Sometimes I'm still - I don't know if my hardcoated personality is that different, but I'm so much stronger than I knew I was. I joke a lot but I can bench press 150 pounds now, and I couldn't lift a bench press when I started."

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"Part of me thinks, what is it that did this? Why Survivor? Why this show? I became a fan 10 years ago, my kids were really young. I did apply for the second season. My son was 6, and we've watched together as a family. I think it has something to do with that, our kids seeing people have to endure has meant something to me, just normal people like us endure things. As a family, we really have watched the show, and I don't know, I think that's what it is. I think it's something to do with that component of my kids watching it, and now being in the game."

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"I spent the first day really just thinking of all they did to help get me here. There isn't really any part of my life that hasn't been shaped by them, my husband and my kids, helping me get to the game. My husband would take time off early so I could go work out and he could be with the kids. If he couldn't do that, the kids would be with me at the gym playing basketball or swimming with me. We all rescued Timmy at our community pool, when we were all practicing, so I could hold my breath underwater as long as I could. They have those big CPR-like toddlers. They went through every part of it. It is as much their game as it is mine."

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"No question. No matter what happens, this was a win. Not just for me, but my kids get to see us try to achieve this big goal, and then attack it in all areas. Reading strategy books, talking about choices that you make. How do you treat a friend? Who's a friend? What's a friend? Does everybody deserve a million dollars? Does only one person deserve a million dollars? What are the merits? There are so many life lessons. I know to many people it's just a reality show, but I don't think it's been that for us. It really has created some opportunities for discussions and thought without the show."

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"I think for my kids, seeing it's OK to dream about something and go after it, and it might not be someone else's dream, fill in the blank, this is mine. I had all that support, and I'm here, and I'm gonna enjoy it no matter what the outcome. It's bigger too, because I really think I'm motivated to do good things, and that million dollars, I could do a lot of good things with it."

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"The whole concept of Redemption Island, I really love with Survivor. I do think life presents second chances, and I think it's great to see what happens with a decision that you made, seems like its final, you vote someone out, then you bring that back and see how it influences you when those people come back. I think that happens in life all the time. You think a door is shut, and it's not. I love that. The 2 returning players. I'm leery. I saw Rob play and I thought if I'd been on Rob's tribe I would have been glad I lasted the whole time. That was great. But another part of me said if I'm on that tribe, chances are I'm not going to be getting the million dollars, because he led the whole thing. I'm nervous abut how it will affect my game."

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"Am I too nice to play the game? I don't know. Can you be too nice? Is there enough kindness on the planet? I'm not really certain there is. I feel glad to play it and represent that. I'm not opposed to being called Pollyanna. I'm so not. I feel like that's how you change things. Your perception, and how you treat people, is how you cause change. I think it's gonna be hard to eventually play, play, play, and outwit, and outlast, but I know that it's a game, and I think that's gonna benefit me."

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"I cannot believe the game's starting, and I'm in it, and that music's gonna play, and my face is gonna be in the game. It's incredible. I don't know that anyone in my family - we had that moment of saying goodbye at the airport - and it really was overwhelming. We did it. No matter what happens at the end. We did it. We got here. There's 18 people and I'm one of  'em. I'm here."

 

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Whatever It Takes

Albert describes Survivor as his fiancée for whom he is willing to do whatever it takes to win her over.

"I'm 26 years old. My name is Albert. I'm the head baseball coach at Plantation High School. I've kind of been doing baseball my whole life. I played collegiate league,  I did Division 1 level, and now I'm involved in the game I love. I coach baseball for a living."

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"I'm pretty layered. I have a pretty extensive history of doing some pretty interesting things in my background. I played poker professionally. I competed in the World Series of Poker last year. I worked as a professional dating coach. I traveled around the world teaching men and women how to meet, date, and attract men and women of the opposite sex."

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"The beauty of this game is it's almost like a human chess game. People are pieces, and you're just shuffling around the board. I think I'm gonna come in with a lot of preconceived notions. They're gonna think, 'Here's this athlete guy. He plays baseball, coaches baseball. He's a jock. He's not gonna have much going between the ears. I'm gonna kind of try to use my advantage to kind of scheme, maneuver and manipulate my way around the game, and a lot of them won't see it coming, at least not from me."

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"I think the dating coach aspect will probably work a little differently had my tribe draw been a little different. I didn't really get many of the younger female players on my tribe, which is interesting, which is cool. I'm cool with older ladies as well. It's an interesting thing because I know a lot more about body languages and little nuances which are going to help me throughout this game. I know how to socially calibrate myself which in layman's terms means understand how to act depending on who I'm around and what the situation is. It's really gonna give me a pretty big edge when it comes to assimilating myself to my tribemates and other players in the game."

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"I'm definitely gonna be a leader in the game, but I'm not gonna be a leader by shouting orders and barking out directions, but I'm gonna be a leader by the vibe I set and the tone I establish. I'm gonna be a leader a little bit more subliminally than others. I'm not gonna say, 'You do this, you do that,' but I'm gonna try to set the tone a little bit and lead by example rather than verbalizing what I want people do do."

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"I wouldn't say this is my element. I'm comfortable with the weather and the temperature now, but the fact that we're going to be outside fighting for survival literally, not my cup of tea, personally. I'm a tough guy, I can battle through pretty much anything, but when it comes to the limited amount of resources we're going to have, it's going to be interesting. I don't know. It's not something I'm normally acclimated to."

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"Being Cuban and being born in Miami, living this every day, this is what I'm used to. My family's from an island. You think hey, a game of survival on an island, you'd think a Cuban would have a pretty big edge."

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"I think I'll win this game because I've got a pretty unique set of attributes I'm bringing to the table. I'm pretty athletic. I've got a solid strategy I'm going to employ, ultimately socially, this is a social game, and I think that's going to be my biggest edge. I have a social component that I think is going to be a little bit higher than the rest of the people in this game. I understand social dynamics a little better, and I'm gonna know how to maneuver myself better. Ultimately I have no qualms doing whatever it takes to win this game. I'm not the person who's going to say, I can't cross this invisible moral line. I'll do whatever it takes to win this game. I came here to win a million dollars. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go after it 100%."

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"I'd lose because I was recognized as a threat, or I'd lose because my tribe just got down in numbers and we'd get Pagonged, as they say. We'd just get picked off one by one. I would lose if I trusted the wrong person. If I put my trust someone and think they have my back, and all the sudden that one confidant that I have goes 180 on me and flips the script."

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"And I am completely unattached. I am not involved in any serious relationship right now. The only relationship I have right now is the game of Survivor. That's my fiance. I'm going to do everything to court and win over the game of Survivor. I'm going to do whatever it takes to be successful. If I gotta flirt with the girls, I'll do it. If I gotta flirt with a guy, I don't care, I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes. No holds barred."

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"Redemption Island is interesting. As a player, I'll tell you right now, I love it. A guy like me, who might get targeted at some point in the game, have an opportunity to come back and work his way back into the game whether it's through a puzzle challenge or physical type challenge, it's great for me. As a player, I love it. It makes me feel like it's not the end-all-be-all if I do get knocked out or I do get voted out at some point. That being said, it might work against my favor if I strategically set a plan in place where I'm picking people off systematically. If somebody gets kicked off and comes back, especially if they come back late in the game, like they did last year, final 5, it could really alter things."

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"At first, 2 returning players, I wasn't really in love with the idea. Now, looking at my tribe, I probably need another strong player on my tribe to help through these tough challenges early on. Realistically, I might have to align with one of these players. When I look around my tribe, I don't know if I see a lot of people I feel that comfortable investing my trust in and investing my well-being in the game. Initially I thought hey, whoever comes back we might have to get rid of 'em early, but the way things have panned out, I might have to depend on that person, might have to join forces with them a little bit, especially since I don't think a returning player will win this year. There's such a built-in argument about what Rob did last season. You let a returner get to the finals, they're gonna win. That's a nice little end game ace I'm gonna have up my sleeve. We can't let this guy get too deep, because he could be trouble."

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"I feel pretty phenomenal. I feel ready to go. I feel nothing can stop me at this point. No matter what obstacle I face, I'm gonna know how to wiggle my way around it. I'm gonna know how to adjust through it. I'm a really good person at making last second improvisational decisions and tactics, and kind of going with the flow. That's what this game's about, man. Anyone who plays a static strategy in this game, I'm gonna play this way all the way through, isn't gonna be very successful. You gotta be able to move on your feet, gotta be able to move around, be quick, and I think that's gonna be able to play to my strength. I can do that. I can improvise pretty quickly."

 

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